Patients Went to This Isolated Facility for Treatment. Instead, Nearly Two Dozen Were Charged With Crimes.
For years, residents at the Illinois facility received scant treatment for their developmental disabilities and mental illnesses, then faced felonies for lashing out at staff.
Local Reporting Network
Report Finds “Code of Silence” at Mental Health Facility Where Staff Abused and Neglected Patients
A newly released report from an agency watchdog echoes reporting published earlier this year that revealed widespread collusion to cover up misconduct at the Illinois facility.
Local Reporting Network
Chilling Audio Provides Rare Glimpse Into Abuse at Troubled Illinois Residential Facility
No one was charged when staff were caught on a 911 tape threatening violence against a Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center resident who has developmental disabilities. New reporting shows a culture of cover-ups at the facility.
Local Reporting Network
Illinois Governor Calls for Changes After “Awful” Reports of Abuse at Developmental Center
Gov. J.B. Pritzker resisted, but did not rule out, a call to close Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in southern Illinois after we found widespread problems.
Local Reporting Network
At a Remote Mental Health Facility, a Culture of Cruelty Persists Despite Decades of Warnings
Federal and state officials have urged reforms at the rural facility for people with mental and developmental disabilities. But the state-run center still has more allegations of abuse and neglect than any other in Illinois.
Local Reporting Network
A Disabled Young Patient Was Sent to Get Treatment. He Was Abused Instead. And He Wasn’t the Last.
The 24-year-old with developmental disabilities was brutally beaten by his caretakers inside a state-run facility with a long history of patient abuse.
Local Reporting Network